How to make Tomato Three Cheese Thin Crust Pizza Recipe

Another month has gone by and boy, October is here! I had promised myself to get out of the cocoon and post atleast couple of more recipes before the end of September, but I failed myself again.

The changing months remind me how blessed the second part of the year has been, particularly this year with some long weekends falling back to back over the past 3 weeks. We had Ganesh Chaturthi fall on 18th Sep, the Friday, followed by Bakrid on 24th, the Thursday last week. It came as an advantage when the leave on Thursday was called off and pushed to Friday. As an unplanned holiday, we decided to make the best of a long weekend break, stayed home, sewed some teeny-weeny clothes for the little girl's barbie, napped well in the noon and baked some delicious pizzas for our dinner.

For a long time now, making pizza at home has not just been a menu of convenience and break from the usual course, but very therapeutic when made from scratch. Its a joy to watch the yeast act it's way through the dough, rise and double it up. Intimidating it may sound. But there's hardly anyway one can go wrong with a pizza flatbread if the yeast has played its part well.

Making the dough and sauce from scratch indeed calls for some pre-planning and can end up being time consuming if you are time crunched, but this is what makes the most delicious pizza, with slices that are endearing and smell of freshly baked bread, topped with molten lava of cheese to boast.

So, I've made pizzas several times at home. Combinations vary. Toppings change. Each time they evolve. Yet, every time they sing of freshness and subtlety. The flavors burst and melt with each bite. At times they are made quick, simple and unpretentious, on other occasions they can be fancy with a varirty of vegetable toppings. I decide toppings on a whim, unplanned and unprepared. But they hardly matter. When you have good cheese to camouflage, you always have sumptuous and satisfying slices on your plate and lips that curve into a smile. Don't forget, a well made crust and good cheese is the key, and you have a winning recipe.

There are several recipes available for a good pizza dough, but this recipe always works like charm for me, especially when I prefer to use whole wheat flour. It may seem unusual to use milk based bread recipe in a pizza dough, but I prefer it for the soft, supple and airy results it provides to a dough base that holds the sauce, vegetables and cheese well, yet doesn't lose its texture. The whole wheat flavor adds a healthy twist with a nice nutty backdrop to whatever toppings you want to layer on.

One of the reason why I love keeping the crust on the thinner side is that the dough doesn't require time to rise after proofing nor requires par-cooking. As the dough rests and doubles, you prepare the sauce, cook, simmer, season it and let it cool. Then you roll out the dough and let it rest on the counter while you prepare the toppings. For a recipe like this three cheese tomato pizza, all you need a good dough base and a fresh tomato basil sauce with three variety of cheeses you can get your hands on. Remember, mozzarella is a must for that gooey-stringy mess. The others are much upto your choice. I suggest you get the best fresh mozzarella possible. I chose a combination of cheeses with high, medium and low melting points. Ricotta has a low melting point, and I paired it with cheddar and mozzarella with medium to high melting points. That helps avoid this pizza disintegrate into a cheesy mess.

Tomato Basil Pizza Sauce

INGREDIENTS

8-10 pods of garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup tomato puree
1/4 cup tomato sauce (optional)
1/4 cup of fresh basil leaves, torn
1 tsp. dry oregano (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and Paprika to taste

DIRECTIONS

Saute finely chopped garlic in oil for 2 mins till they turn transparent. Add the tomato puree and stir well. Simmer and cook for atleast 15 minutes or till it reduces and leaves oil from the sides of the pan. Add in the tomato sauce and stir well. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the freshly torn basil leaves, dry oregano herbs (optional), paprika and salt to taste. Stir well. Turn off the flame and set aside to cool. Use this sauce to spread over the pizza base.

Three Cheese Tomato Thin Crust Pizza

INGREDIENTS

For the dough base:

Follow the recipe here or use a store bought thin crust pizza base

For the homemade sauce:

Homemade (recipe above) or store bought pizza sauce

For the toppings:

1 large tomato, de-seeded and sliced in rounds
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup ricotta cheese
2 slices of cheddar cheese, torn
1 cup mozzarella cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste
Italian seasoning / Italian herbs

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heated oven at 200 deg C.

For a thin crust pizza, roll out the pizza dough as thin as possible, about ¼ inch thick. Prick all over the pizza dough using a fork. Allow it to sit on the counter for 10 mins.

Place the pizza on the pizza tray. Top with homemade tomato sauce and slather it evenly. Top with sliced tomatoes and onions. Sprinkle drained ricotta cheese, followed by cheddar and topped by generous amounts of mozzarella cheese. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 deg C for 20-30 minutes or till the cheese melts and the edges of pizza brown. Slice into wedges and serve immediately.

I have taken longer than imagined to pen down this post, that I almost assured myself if I may even let go documenting it here. I mentioned about being at IFBM (Indian Food Blogger Meet) here a while ago. Exactly about 3 weeks ago I was at Aloft, Cessna Business Park being a part of the first-of-its-kind food blogger meet that was beyond any scale I had expected it to be. It was hosted in all splendor and grandeur in true sense. True to its intentions, it brought together the like minded us from various parts of the country and across the globe, with an agenda to meet, greet, learn, share and build a stronger food blogging network. Beyond all, it was meant to break free from our friendships and acquiantances in the traditional virtual world and translate to a real one, which in every sense was truly accomplished.

Its hard to sum up the two days that went by in utter frenzy. If you followed me on Instagram you probably have witnessed the IFBM craze over these 2 days. Its hangover still hitting hard weeks after it's over and settled. I am quite certain that all the bloggers present over this meet may have experienced these hangover and withdrawal symptoms! It had me reeling.

IFBM had way too much to offer that it would be impossible for me to weave them into words and cover it all on a single post. Even tougher would be to justify the depth of effort the organizers had put in. The fabulous ladies Aparna, Nandita, Revati and Arundati deserve a huge round of applause for the length and breadth at which they have gone to put this show together and make this meet a grand success. To sum it up all, there were crazy 50+ fabulous food bloggers packed into a well-decor conference hall of a star hotel with high projectors, a fabulous host (Arundati) and many esteemed speakers nailing interesting substantial topics covering food photography, styling, writing, SOE, self-publishing, social networking and live cooking demos over a well carved program. Interspersed with awesome food, shutterbugs, media coverage, hugs, handshakes and loads of goodies from generous sponsors, IFBM was a one hell of an experience that will stay rooted in our memories for long.

I walk you through a couple of photographs snapped at this event, in a bid to capture as much I could and etch it in my memory for years to be cherished. They cover mainly food, a yet another highlight of this event. It was amazing to see how the team at Aloft had carefully crafted their menu over these two days, each following a theme and artistically put together in place. I've refrained posting photographs of individuals here in due respect to their privacy. However, if you follow me on Facebook, my timelines are currently tagged and loaded with all the action and happenings of this event that you can witness. Walk over to my Instagram feeds for more of its mania.

IFBM ended on electric high notes, positive vibes and ravishing raves garnered from the fraternity of us like minded blogger folks. There was so much to learn, explore, socialize and motivate oneself to better as a blogger that it will take me some time to put all of it into practical use. I came back with a hope that there will more of these interactive sessions packed with fun, learnings and new friendships in the years to come.

Before I close, I bring to you this Garden Fresh pizza that happens to be an all-time favorite of mine. That for the number of times I have baked at home, I presume it should feature here. I am a huge fan of peppers, mushrooms, baby corn and olives on a pizza and when all these feature on a single pizza how can it not taste delightful. This pizza is baked with a whole wheat mixed flour base, slathered with fresh tomato sauce and generously topped with fresh-sliced baby corns & green peppers, mushrooms and black olives. The base is made out of aashirvaad multigrain atta that's popular in India. I suggest you keep the pizza base thin since multi-grain flours have lower gluten in them and hence a thicker base can be less soft and springy as compared to the all-purpose flour counterparts.

Garden Fresh Pizza

INGREDIENTS

For the pizza dough:

1 cup + 1 tbsp. multi-grain flour (I used Aashirwad aata)
½ cup lukewarm water
1 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. olive oil

To assemble:

½ cup pizza sauce, homemade or store-bought
1 Green pepper / capsicum, sliced to wedges
6-7 Mushrooms, chopped to quarters
6-8 Baby corns, slit vertically to quarters
5-6 Black olives, halved
3-4 tbsp. mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

In a mixing bowl, blend yeast in lukewarm water along with a teaspoon of sugar. Allow this to rest for 10 mins. This should be frothy by now. Heap the multigrain flour into a large bowl and make a pit in the center. Pour the yeast mixture, salt and 1 tbsp. of olive oil. Knead gently to form a smooth, soft, slightly sticky dough. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place for an hour like an oven until almost double in size. About 20 minutes before baking, punch down, knead a minute or two and then form into a ball. Roll out thin crust pizza base, about ¼ - ½ inch thick. Allow it to sit on the counter for 10 mins.

Pre-heat the oven on 220 deg C. To assemble the pizza, spread the pizza sauce over thinly rolled out pizza crust. Layer green peppers, mushrooms, baby corn and black olives. Top generously with mozzarella cheese and season with salt and pepper. Bake in a pre-heated oven of 220 deg C for about 20-30 mins. Cut into wedges and serve hot with Italian herbs.

I called off a day yesterday, pushed aside several other routines and decided maybe I should neaten up my home a little. For a long while things have been messy, stuffs piling up, cobwebbed corners overlooked, clutter sidelined, wardrobes stuffy with my kiddos toys accumulating by numbers and I have just been ignoring them all. Then couple of days ago I walked into my kitchen in sleepy eyes to fetch some water and got alarmed seeing some creepy little creatures invading my kitchen. I spent that night attacking them and fighting through. So I spent an entire yesterday to rip my kitchen in fit of cleaning every bit of that mounting mess. Oh yes, I get such bouts of springing into a cleaning freak once a while and I do that job quite well!

I put an incredible amount of effort to wipe the dusty corners spic and clean, scrubbed the chimney vent to eternity, unsettled the jars and bottles, refilled and stacked them neatly and discarded all the expired stuff. Before I knew, it was noon already and I realized I hadn’t even got half way through. I started off with the kitchen and had plans to neaten my entire apartment before the evening, but I had spent more than half the day just settling the unsettled things in my kitchen. Then there was the refrigerator that needed a thorough scan. I pulled out several stuffs, of which came some cheeses, flours, yeast, left over baby corns from our last grocery shopping, bottle of black olives, few sachets of sauces, seasonings, etc., etc., etc… all perfect for a pizza I think. After a quick check for expiries, I put them to submission for a pizza I had on my mind for our late lunch. While the dough was left rising, the refrigerator was wiped clean and there was the happier me.

Thanks to that spring-cleaning, I have this skinny pizza for you today. Skinny, because its thin crust and par-baked on low heat on an Indian tava and then topped with homemade sauce, vegetables and cheese and baked to finish. It has good dose of vegetables with onions, baby corn and black olives, but is scanty on cheese (I told you right about the cleaning!), not really how a traditional pizza should be, but then who cares if it’s delicious and it’s healthy.

Skinny Olive and Baby corn Pizza

INGREDIENTS

For the dough base:

Follow the recipe here or use a store bought thin crust pizza base

For the homemade sauce:

Click on the recipe here or use a store bought pizza sauce

For the toppings:

4-6 baby corns vertically slit into quarters
½ cup black olives, chopped
1 onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Italian seasoning

DIRECTIONS

For a thin crust pizza, roll out the pizza dough as thin as possible, about ¼ - ½ inch thick. Allow it to sit on the counter for 10 mins. Heat up the tava / iron griddle on lowest flame. Cook the pizza on each side, flipping over to ensure the pizza is par cooked on both the sides. Remove and let it cool.

Place the pizza on the pizza tray. Top with homemade tomato sauce and slather it evenly. Top with diced onions, baby corn slices and black olives. Sprinkle generous amounts of cheese and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 deg C for 15-20 minutes or till the cheese melts and the edges of pizza brown. Serve hot.

Festivities in the last week continued at my work place too and the ones who offered to work on these holidays were treated with food as a part of celebrations. To put it this way, I have been eating enough of store bought pizzas at my work place off late. The kind of pizzas offered aren't my best pick. Thick crusts of bread are not so fresh and all it feels is like biting into thick bread base with skeletal toppings. Eating pizzas and pastas at pizzerias with family and friends have diminished than ever before, more evidently since I have been making the base at home, albeit attempting their healthier counterparts. Seconding the reason that I have taken to liking thin crust pizzas than the deep pan ones.

If you've been through my previous posts on pizzas, you well know how much I love my pizzas loaded with toppings. Ironically, much against my liking, a vital element of a good pizza is not overloading the pie with toppings. Less is definitely more on pizza. And with thin, crisp crusts like this one, I can well assure that. :)

Pizza Margherita has been catching quite an attention from long. Every time I look up the pamphlet to place an order, Margherita calls out to me. But then, only tomato, basil loaded stuff doesn't appeal either, right? Is it just the name? I am not sure. I push the thoughts for a next time and go ahead for fancier toppings.

Something impelled me to make this classic pizza at home. First the recipe from the cookbook 'Vegetarian cookbook' said making this was a breeze and then Soma's blog compelled me further. I got down to making one of those classic recipes that's meant to stay the way it is. Did you know how Margherita Pizza got it's name? It is said that the Neapolitan chef, Raffaele Esposito created the Pizza Margherita, a pizza garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, in honor of the Queen of Italy, Margherita of Savoy. It was created to represent the colors of the Italian flag. Now isn't that pretty interesting how a simple pizza, laden with tomatoes and cheese alone can get an exotic name?

Pizza Margherita with Thin crust Millet flour pizza base

INGREDIENTS:

Homemade Pizza dough

1 tsp dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
A teaspoon of sugar
Salt to taste
1 cup flour mixture (Wheat Flour + Millet Flour in ratio of 3:1)
1 tsp Olive oil

Sauce/Toppings:

1 cup tomato puree
4-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp oregano flakes
1 tbsp fresh/dry basil leaves
1-2 tomatoes, chopped in rings (optional)
1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Prepare Thin crust Millet flour pizza base:

In a mixing bowl, blend yeast in lukewarm water along with a teaspoon of sugar. Allow this to rest for 10 mins. This should be frothy by now.

Heap the flour mixture into a large bowl and make a pit in the center. Pour the yeast mixture, salt and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Knead gently to form a smooth, soft, slightly sticky dough. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and set aside in a warm place for an hour like an oven until almost double in size. About 20 minutes before baking, punch down, knead a minute or two and then form into a ball. Roll out thin crust pizza base.

Prepare the Sauce:

To prepare the sauce, heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic and oregano for a few seconds. Do not let the garlic brown, they should only sweat. Add pureed tomatoes. Boil till the sauce is fairly thick. Adjust salt to taste.

Assemble the Pizza:

Spread sauce over thinly rolled out pizza crust, layer tomato rings (optional), sprinkle basil, good helpings of mozzarella cheese and finally a dash of olive oil. Finish with generous black pepper and a little salt. Bake in a pre-heated oven of 220 deg C for about 20-30 mins. Cut into wedges and serve hot.

The base follows a standard recipe with a substitution of millet flour instead of all purpose flour, making it a much healthier version. Count a few perks of home baking :) Millet flour is gluten-free, hence the dough would have less elasticity; don't expect it to behave the way all purpose flour would. I used a mix of whole wheat flour and millet flour in 3:1 ratio.

You can leave out the tomato rings, instead use roughly chopped tomatoes in the sauce. used dry basil leaves, however I suggest you use fresh basil if available. Basil and tomatoes marry well with each other and they are a combination made in heaven, making this pizza simple, yet bursting with fresh flavors.

What sounds like a tedious amount of work isn't actually any. It's wonderfully aromatic when you have the otherwise awful smelling yeast sitting in the oven converting a yeasty dough to a freshly baked crusty base topped with tangy cheesy tomato sauce and the entire house envelops with the charming smell of freshly baked rustic pizza. What an end to a Sunday evening!!!

Before she came into our life, our weekends would tend to be laid back and relaxed. Unlike other days, waking up late on Sundays, to enjoy a cup of tea and biscuits is followed by warming up for the lovely day ahead. While he holds my attention to the bits of snippets read from the newspaper I get busy preparing the breakfast. Later a walk down to the nearby supermarket is the most looked forward to as I enthusiastically load my baskets with items and groceries required for the week ahead.

An odd vegetable rarely seen peeks through the regular stack of veggies, seasonal fruits catch a paramount attention and new food products on stands excite me to the pinnacle. Sometimes just a handful of items may suffice our needs, but I always end up going over board shopping in a supermarket, especially on a weekend when time is at our luxurious disposal. The stroll over the counter rarely ends in window shopping. Yeah, this often happens :) Temptation over powers and rules over resistance. I stack my crates and load them with stuffs that tempt me, mostly fresh items that were not seen on my previous visit, picked right off the rack. The battling eyelids of my husband showing reluctance are often ignored. Back home, I am a content woman. :D

Since a couple of months I have been missing food events and blogger's meets. I pinch myself to say a no. But at this stage my baby needs me the most and hence missing these events is inevitable. I love meeting bloggers personally in these meets. Apart from just good food, there's lots more to it... loads of talks, sharing thoughts and new acquaintances, all revolving around one common passion, that's called FOOD!

When I happened to miss one such event, I had to make something different from usual to compensate the miss :) Pastas and pizzas happen to be our all time favorites. Fruits and vegetable are bought fresh on a day to day basis. I love using an array of vegetables that bring out varied colors and contrast on plate. The scarlet reds from plum ripe tomatoes, bright yellow shades of gold from the corn, dotted with somber shades of capsicum and olives are a color treat to my eye. This pizza puts together a great color wheel!

Corn, Capsicum and Olive Pizza

INGREDIENTS

2 medium sized Pizza base (Refer to this recipe for a Homemade Pizza dough. A store bought pizza base will also do.)
1 cup Pizza sauce, recipe for Homemade Pizza sauce

1/2 cup onions
1/2 cup tomatoes
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
1/2 cup green capsicum
1/2 cup black olives

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS

Pre-heat the oven to 250 deg C.

Chop the vegetables as per your choice. I cut onions and tomatoes into rings, hand picked corn kernels from fresh corn while the capsicum was chopped to bite sized strips. The black olives I used were readily cut rings. Spread the pizza sauce on the pizza base. Top them with onion rings, followed by capsicum, corn kernels and black olives. Top this with shredded mozzarella cheese. A heavy topping of shredded quality mozzarella cheese will make this pizza delectably rich.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes. If using a store bought pizza base, please reduce the baking time, generally 15-20 mins should suffice. Bake till the cheese becomes golden brown in color. Slice and serve hot.

Creamy Mint Coleslaw

INGREDIENTS

2 cups shredded cabbage
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 tbsp finely chopped onion
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used eggless mayo)
1 cup thick yogurt
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, optional
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Mix mayonnaise, yogurt and lemon juice in a small bowl. Blend well. Add in the vegetables and freshly torn mint leaves. Toss well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Keep in refrigerator until ready to eat.

Pairing with this veggie loaded pizza, I made this comforting creamy coleslaw. It's light, yet creamy and saucy. I kept it low on mayo and heavy on thick yogurt, loving the tang it rendered. If your yogurt is sour, skip the lemon juice.

I love making pizza base and pasta sauce at home. May be a little extra effort, but the result is worth it. My pizzas are generally laden with vegetables and go easier on cheese. I love to keep my pizzas heavy on vegetables and lighter on cheese. This was a perfect compensation for a Sunday lazily spent and the event missed.

Making pizzas have never been tedious task. In fact, they are one of the simplest and the easiest to make, especially if you have the base ready. They make a complete meal by themselves. We love indulging in pizzas quite often. And I ensure I make them all home, including the base.

I generally use whole wheat flour crust base to give them a healthy touch. For me pizza is all about the toppings! So with loads of toppings on them, one can hardly identify the difference in taste between the wheat flour crust against the all purpose flour crust. I am a huge fan of thin crust pizzas, but for a change I decided to go for a deep pan pizza this time. They were actually good for the heavy topping that I use often as they hold them very well. The thick base against the heavy toppings. Perfect to hold the toppings even after they are cut to pieces. I consider to continue making deep pan pizzas again in future for sure.

I realize that I have been loving thin crusts, because pizzas from restaurants offer with light toppings and sauce on a heavy crust. Feels as if we are biting into bread more than the mild sauce and light toppings they come with. My pizzas hold loads of vegetables and good dose of cheese to complete them.

To make the pizza crust at home follow my previous post here. Just double the quantity of ingredients to be used. Infact I used three times the amount mentioned as I made a bigger batch. Also substitute the all purpose flour to whole wheat flour if you want to go the healthier way.

Roll the dough and transfer it to a pizza pan. A deep dish pizza would mean the dough is about 3/4 inch thick in height which would rise a little more on baking.

Tomato Basil Pizza Sauce

INGREDIENTS

8-10 pods of garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup tomato puree
1/4 cup tomato sauce, optional
Salt and paprika to taste
1/4 cup of fresh basil leaves, torn
Italian herbs, such as oregano / basil (optional)
2 tbsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Saute finely chopped garlic and onions in oil for 2 mins till they turn transparent. Add the tomato puree and stir well. Cook for atleast 15-20 minutes till it reduces and leaves oil from the sides of the pan. Add in the tomato sauce and stir well. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the freshly torn basil leaves, herbs (optional) and spices. Stir well. Turn off the flame and set aside to cool. Use this sauce to spread over the pizza base.

Deep Dish Pizza

Ingredients for Toppings:

50 gm mushrooms
50 gm onions
50 gm baby corn
50 gm yellow capsicum
50 gm red capsicum
50 gm cherry tomatoes
20 gm jalapenos

All the vegetables were chopped to small-medium sized chunks. Spread them on the sauce on the pizza base. You may choose vegetables of your choice. I did not have olives at hand, else they can be added too. If you dislike vegetables, then skip them and go for a Classic Margherita style pizza with just the sauce and cheese toppings.

For the cheese topping:

100 gm cheddar cheese
100 gm mozzarella cheese

No pizza is complete without cheese!!! Load your pizzas with dollops of cheese. I like my pizzas low on cheese. But if you are a cheese lover and calories don't bother you much, then don't stop your self to add more cheese. Pizzas can take them and they taste best when loaded with good amounts of cheese.

Bake them in oven for 20 minutes or till the crust has baked well and the cheese turns golden brown. Remove and garnish the top with oregano and chilli flakes. Using a pizza cutter, slice to pieces and serve hot.

This pizza was a delight to our afternoon lunch. Served with simple coleslaw, every bite into the pizza was flavored with combination of healthy vegetables sandwiched between the crusty whole wheat base and the baked cheesy top. A delight to a pizza lover's heart.